API Development

Last updated: 2025-09-25 02:02:49

API Development Best Practices

APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) enable communication between different software systems.

REST API Principles

• GET - Retrieve data
• POST - Create new resource
• PUT - Update entire resource
• PATCH - Partial update
• DELETE - Remove resource

PHP API Example

<?php
header("Content-Type: application/json");
header("Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *");

$method = $_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"];
$path = parse_url($_SERVER["REQUEST_URI"], PHP_URL_PATH);

switch ($method) {
    case "GET":
        if ($path === "/api/users") {
            echo json_encode(["users" => getUsersFromDB()]);
        }
        break;
    case "POST":
        $input = json_decode(file_get_contents("php://input"), true);
        $result = createUser($input);
        echo json_encode($result);
        break;
}
?>

JavaScript Fetch API

// GET request
fetch("/api/users")
    .then(response => response.json())
    .then(data => console.log(data));

// POST request
fetch("/api/users", {
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
        "Content-Type": "application/json"
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
        name: "John Doe",
        email: "john@example.com"
    })
})
.then(response => response.json())
.then(data => console.log(data));